Saiyan Saga - Part 5: Dark Ascension

Obstreperous chatter filled the kitchen of Articuno's spaceship as the aforementioned Arcosian's crew and Kakarot continued their conversation, the clinking and clattering of utensils decorating the chorus with its own unique flair. A hearty laugh of Victus' rang through every now and then as well.

Amid it all, Metaic, the black and white-skinned cross between a panda and a rabbit, was chewing on a carrot as his eyes remained locked onto the Saiyan. Despite his generally composed and stoic self, he was inhaling his food at a frightening rate. As a doctor and as a sane individual, he realized that couldn't be healthy. 'I almost wonder what causes him to eat so fast… is it anxiety? A trait of his species?' He took an instinctive nibble on his carrot once more. 'One thing's for sure, the kid puts waaay too much pressure on himself. He'll be crushed by that stress soon enough if he's not careful...'

Next to him sat Eldoon, the overgrown yellow insectoid bedecked in Planet Trade armor of a red and black coloration. His orange eyes glowed as he listened to Kakarot speak once more. 'He doesn't trust Articuno all that well… but he seems more than willing to get along with us. How… odd.'

The one to round out the table was the ever regal orange-skinned bird known as Suzaku, sitting at the edge of the table with his eyes narrowed at the Saiyan. He subconsciously tugged at his black jacket. 'This guy… something doesn't sit right with me. Yet at the same time, I know Articuno would never try to befriend someone he saw evil in...'

"So yeah, that's pretty much what went down on Toasig. Leader wasn't a pretty sight after the fact, but he more than deserved it after the way he killed his own people to save himself," Victus finished, taking a swig of his mug. "That's the kind of thing that has to be done sometimes, y'know?"

"Yes… I think I do." Kakarot lounged back in his chair, a contemplative look growing on his face. "You guys deserve a lot of credit, you know. Sticking your necks out there and liberating planets… it's incredible how courageous you are."

"Just because we're weak compared to the likes of you doesn't mean we can't pitch in somehow," Suzaku bitterly snapped. "I could recount many instances where we have, this one being the first example that comes to mind. For example, you would still be an angry little child "

"Hey, hey, cool it!" Metaic butted in, a paw sliding over to the avian's shoulder. "You're much nicer than this, Suzaku, especially with guests! Show some manners!" His eyes slid over to Kakarot. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Kakarot awkwardly replied, shuffling in his seat. "This, um, this was a great meal," he hastily added, not sure of what else to say.

"Ain't it? Only took me a good half hour, hehe." Victus smiled knowingly. "Our actual dinners are much better. You should come back later if you wanna try it."

"That sounds great," Kakarot replied. Eyeing his plate, picked clean, he stood. "I, uh, I should get going. All of this helped considerably, everyone… thank you."

"Our pleasure," mumbled Metaic as he chewed on his carrot. "Was nice to have you here."

"Hm." Kakarot nodded. "Well then… until later." He swiftly whirled around and made his way out, blasting off as soon as he returned to the outside world.

Not a moment after his departure, however, the conversation started. The group of four were incredibly in-sync, so much so that each already seemed to know what the others were thinking.

"That guy gets on my nerves," blatantly spewed out Suzaku. "Something about him just feels… off. Metaic, you should run some tests on the guy, see if he's a loony one."

"You don't think I thought that originally?" Metaic's brow furrowed. "It's hard to tell. If I can talk to him one-on-one, I can probably get us some more answers."

Rolling his eyes, Victus sighed. "C'mon, you two. Can't you just trust this guy for once? He seems harmless."

"I agree."

Everyone turned to see Eldoon, the overgrown yellow insectoid, speak. "The boy is a good soul. Don't harp on the past for now."

'Hmph… for now,' Suzaku thought, internally spitting. 'But as soon as he gives me a reason to, I will shut that Saiyan's mouth faster than he can close it himself.'

"So… you three are to be my new officials, I hear."

"Y-Yup," Pilaf stammered, body twitching ever slightly. "T-That's what we heard too, yeah. Can't, er, have everyone fighting at a time like this."

"Hmmm… yes, I agree." Piccolo smiled deviously. "At least for now. If you ever have any questions to ask me, you know where to find Piano and I. Speaking of, let me fetch him now; let us all get acquainted together formally."

"Can do," Shu squeaked, eyes widened. "H-Here's to a go-good partnership!" he practically forced out, the most painfully false smile spreading his face.

"Hn," Piccolo said on his way out, sparing the group no glances on his way out. Once he had departed the conference room, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"So I'm not the only one who was still scared of him, right?" Mai asked quickly, her fear of the demon king apparent.

"N-Nope," Pilaf swiftly answered, still feeling a chill rush through his spine. "Even if the guy is on our side for now… he still gives me the creeps."

Kakarot landed on an island of lush blue grass softly, making no effort to hide his presence to the Arcosian who stood before him, his back turned. It was apparent that the ex-invader had been up to relatively little at all, his garnet eyes transfixed on the sight of the murky green waters of Namek.

"I thought I might find you here," the Saiyan said with a ghost of a smile, walking next to the Arcosian and looking out toward the sea. "It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?"

"Yes… very much so," Articuno acknowledged. Without turning to face his ally, the Arcosian continued, "and just what, might I ask, are you doing here? Aren't you still supposed to be taking it easy for the moment?"

"Our definitions of easy are probably different, just as most things between us are."

"Still on about that, are we?" Articuno sighed. "It's a shame, really. I would have hoped that one of the last known remnants of the Saiyan race – and the only one to have been raised for good, might I add – would have been able to put this petty grudge aside. I am not Frieza."

"It's hard, you know."

The reptilian-creature finally turned his head to the side in interest. "What is?"

"This whole thing." Kakarot looked down. "I… I really should be able to distinguish right from wrong, at least when it comes to people like you. You have friends who'd be willing to go through hell and back for you, and here I am still hanging onto the fact that you share a title with my race's exterminator," he finished, sighing heavily. "At the same time, though… I feel angry every time I see you. It's almost as if I'm reminded that your race has somehow survived while mine hasn't."

"You yourself have said that the Saiyans were far from—"

"—Yeah. Yeah, I know what I've said." Kakarot closed his eyes. "But I can't help feeling that there's more to the story that I don't know. There has to have been some good among them. I refuse to think that I'm the only Saiyan out there who seeks justice."

"It's not improbable," Articuno admitted. "It is, however, unlikely that any of the current survivors feel the way you do."

"The way you've phrased that sounds like you've known them somehow," Kakarot inferenced. "Have you met them?"

"Never in person, though I've caught passing glances and could probably put a name to a face if I had to. What I know for sure is that they serve the same kind of role I did back in the Planet Trade—and unfortunately, they enjoy their purges as much as I despised them." He rolled his hand into a fist. "I do not believe that all Saiyans are malicious beings. I do, however, think these last three are monsters in every sense of the word."

"Do you think I'm a monster?"

The area went silent for several moments.

"Where's this coming fro—"

"—Please don't ask me anything. Just answer my question." Out of the corner of Kakarot's eye, he could see the surprised look on the Arcosian's face.

"You certainly have your moments that I wouldn't necessarily associate with a hero," he started off, "but for what it's worth, it's obvious that you are pure-hearted. It's a difficult question to answer for me, given our brief but tense history."

"I figured." Kakarot turned away, walking toward the other side of the island. "And though it's hard for me to admit, I, uh… see you the same way. And that's why I want to start anew."

Articuno smiled despite their backs being turned to one another. "If that's what you wish."

"It'll take time for me to get used to it, but in the long run it's better for all of us." Kakarot looked down at his fist. "And one way or another… we're going to take down Frieza. Believe that." He raised his arm out to his side, his eyes following the long limb as if in search for something.

"Just as I will believe in you."

One week later…

It was a crisp, beautiful afternoon. The fall breeze gently flowed through Earth's atmosphere, a sensation in stark contrast to the pillaged and deformed landscape of the grand majority of the blue planet.

Chi-Chi made her way on-route back to West City, a large bag full of food, water and other supplies strapped to her back. A genuine smile found its way onto her face as she soared over the recuperating cities of Earth, basking in the sight of reconstruction.

"It's not much, but it's a start…" she thought aloud. "...In a few months, we might actually have this planet looking nice again. Really makes a difference when everyone's willing to help out…"

ZING!

"H-Huh?"

Just then, Chi-Chi came to an abrupt stop, her ki sense flaring up. A power level she had grown terribly familiar with over the years suddenly, unnervingly, plummeted to nearly unreadable levels. Another power level, significantly stronger, remained constant.

It could only mean one thing.

"Yamcha!" Immediately forsaking the supplies on her back, the Ox-Princess changed her flight direction, excess food material spilling out of the large bag as a result of the sudden whiplash. Pulling her aura close, she focused her energy and shot forward with the speed of a bullet, her heartbeat quickening with each passing second. '...This better not be what I think it is…!'

"G-Grgh… d-damn S-Saiyan…" Yamcha spluttered, blood seeping out of his mouth as an arm instinctually went to his ribs. Pathetically, helplessly, he tried to stumble forward toward his apathetic opponent. "I… won't quit here… R-Raditz...!"

Across from him, his trainer stared flatly, unamused. "Your struggling antics were entertaining the first few times. Now they're just getting annoying!" He accentuated his sentence with a heavy thrust kick, the sheer force behind the Saiyan's boot more than enough to incapacitate his opponent. When Yamcha finally smacked into a formation of rocks that immediately buckled and tumbled down on him, both fighters knew he wouldn't be getting up.

"Hmph. Disgusting." Raditz's face wrinkled in disgust. "Though I guess it's to be expected for our first training session… all right, then." Raising his voice considerably, the space pirate exclaimed, "Don't bother my training until you can put up a fight, weakling!"

"Ugh! I knew it!"

Whipping his head toward the sky, Raditz looked confused for the briefest of moments before a cocky smirk etched its way onto his face. "Oh. Figures. You sappy humans would want to make sure everyone's all right."

Landing on the ground, Chi-Chi scowled bitterly at the Saiyan. The fact that he was dressed in Capsule Corp getup only made her angrier—the black tank top, yellow belt, black pants and black boots almost made him look human. Almost. "When a friend of mine is beaten to an inch of his life, you're damn right I'm gonna show up!" She raised a fist to the long-haired Saiyan, her concern for her own safety having gone straight out the window. "How the hell do you consider this training?!"

"It's not my fault he can't take a punch… or a kick. Or anything else, really." Raditz nonchalantly shrugged. "He has no reason to impede my own personal training if he's not even going to benefit from it. When he can move around under his own power again, we'll continue."

"Grrr… is this how your little friends treated you up in space?" the raven-haired woman snarled. "Did they just beat on you and expect you to get back up again?"

"Damn right they did," Raditz answered proudly, practically puffing out his chest, "and I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't have anywhere near the power I did if they'd played nice."

"News flash for you, Raditz—we're not Saiyans!" Her temper had been incited, prompting her to march right up to the unofficial leader of the pack and stare him straight in the eye. "We're. Human. Beings."

"I don't care what race you are!" Raditz barked back, his eyes dilating in anger. "You are warriors! If you don't fight, you will die! I will break whoever's bones I damn well please, and come this time next year, you will thank me for it! This is the only way that you weaklings even have a chance at making it to my level of power!" Before Chi-Chi even had an instant to reply, Raditz harshly shoved her back with a kiai, nearly sending her off her feet until she just barely managed to regain control of her flight.

"W-What the—"

"Take the long-haired idiot and get out of here," Raditz bluntly ordered. He folded his arms and looked away toward the sky. "Now that he knows how strict my training regimen is, perhaps he'll be better equipped for the next time we meet. The same goes for any of you who dare to take me lightly as a teacher."

"You're not a teacher," Chi-Chi corrected quickly, turning to face the pile of rubble Yamcha was currently buried under. With one last look over her shoulder, she added, "You're a monster."

Raditz merely turned his back on the woman, scoffing loudly. "I wasn't aware I gave a damn of what you think of me. Now go. Get out of my sight."

Wordlessly, the heroine did just that before speeding off at the fastest speed she could manage, likely making her way toward the nearest place she knew. Raditz, for his part, waited until the sound of the Ox-Princess' flight escaped his auditory range before he commenced his individual training once more.

Both were too emotionally focused to realize they had been watched from afar.

Flicking a few beads of sweat off her brow, Bulma set down her welding materials for a brief break. Working on Raditz's new armor just didn't seem to be in the cards today. Too many other thoughts pervaded her mind involuntarily, distracting her focus from the updated armor too much that she almost absentmindedly knocked some of her equipment aside.

That said, Bulma found she quite liked being back in the lab—all the familiar capsules and plans felt far more natural than that of punching and kicking. If she could, she knew she'd sell her fighting years in exchange of more knowledge in a heartbeat, yet unfortunately fate did not allow her to do such a thing.

That was not to say they were not valuable, however. There were times that they had their advantages. One of those advantages was being able to detect power signatures in the immediate vicinity, and it was precisely the one that flared within Bulma's mind and jerked her out of her subconscious. Almost nervously, she looked toward the ceiling, feeling the foreign power levels send a chill down her spine as they rocketed over West City and continued on their path toward an unknown destination.

"...W-Who are those…?"

"So this is goodbye, then."

"For now, yes. But I have faith in you, Kakarot. You, Nail, and Articuno will return to this planet as wiser and stronger individuals for having undertaken this journey together."

"I… hope so, Elder Moori."

"Look at you. For someone who usually has so much to say, you're awfully tight-lipped today."

"Guess I'm not exactly used to this kind of sensation. It feels weird… leaving the only place I know."

"You and I both know you're merely trying to prolong the inevitable." A smile. "Go on, Kakarot. We will be praying for your success and growth as both a unit and an individual."

"You know me incredibly well, Elder Moori. And… thank you."

A ship blasted into orbit minutes later.

"Myrr."

"Yes, my lady?"

"I'm sure you can sense… those wonderful powers."

"Of course. Two of them have been growing stronger and stronger for years now… and a third one showed up not too long ago."

"Yes, those three exactly… mmmm. I can feel them as if they were here already. They could prove… valuable."

"They could, yeah… maybe even more so than me."

"Come now, Myrr… I'll still have use for you. Hahaha… you really thought I could dispose of you so easily?"

"I would hope not, my lady. But whatever brings you closer to your goals..."

"Nonsense, Myrr. I won't hear of it. I have a use for all things in this universe, whether they be powerful or not. Uni does mean one, does it not? These three are no exception…

"...which is why they will be ruled under one hand. Not Frieza's.

"My own."

Out of the exposition and into the action we go, ladies and gentlemen!

This chapter was very erratic in nature, I feel. The beginning seemed as if we would be led into a time of peace - or, at least, reconstruction - for the remainder of the year before the Saiyans, but clearly that is not the case. Either "set" of our heroes will soon find themselves engaging in battle with respective foes that are, dare I say, far from orthodox. To try and highlight that, this chapter was a short one - it revolved around basic banter between the characters, and especially the bit at the end... well, yeah, stuff is about to go down.

But before that happens, there were several moments of characterization I'd like to discuss here. For one, Kakarot has accepted Articuno as a benign being, but in an act much more characteristic of him, he's still a little leery. It remains to be seen if a bond can form between them, but having them embark on their journey right now and encounter a foe so soon… well, it just may shed some light on that burning question.

Now, let us head over to the Earth side of things for a moment. Things are clearly still a bit clunky with the humans(and Saiyan and Namekian), and it is painfully clear that there will need to be a significant amount of detail put into their plotline in order to resolve Earth's current matters(it probably doesn't help that this chapter moved at a very rapid pace, something that I promise is a one time thing). Rest assured that I have not forgotten about them. In fact, it could even be argued that this villain will help tie into that grand spectrum. There is still much to be discussed in both of my plotlines, and while these villains could be considered temporary diversions from these important plot elements, allow me to say that they are not so. I know what I'm doing here, and it will most certainly work to everyone's benefit. I seem to be saying that a lot, but it is indeed the truth.

-SmileRen: Well, colour me impressed :D

I will admit, I was a bit leery about reading this because I'm just one of those stubborn people who like things to be specific and canon but I have to admit, you pulled this off extremely well. And all the characters are getting equal screen time and your prioritising their growth fairly (I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see more of Yamcha though)

I will admit, I both did (though barely) see the alliance between the Z-Fighters, Piccolo and Raditz coming. I just didn't know how it would happen but you managed to make it work and it was realistic to boot.

I don't envy the Z-Fighters though, Raditz (concerned with his own survival) will do everything to make sure their thoroughly trained and sadistic seems to be his default setting...will he eventually develop a tentative bond with them though? Like how Vegeta did? (though not exactly like it)

I used to be that same way myself, to be honest - however, I realized that there were some things I wanted to put a spin on just for my own creative muse. Glad to see that you're enjoying that spin though.

As far as Raditz's bonds with the Earthlings go, I'm afraid I can't divulge much about that. He's pretty much taken Krillin's main character slot up on Earth now that the latter is deceased, so rest assured you'll get that answer soon enough.

-BurningSaiyan: Great chapter and story, if you really want to switch it up you should kill Vegeta but let Nappa live, it would be interesting if someone without the arrogance of a Saiyan prince being alive. Can't wait for when Kakarot meets everyone during namek and frieza sagas, that is going to be awesome. I feel that Raditz training will be pretty shitty, since PTO workers are more might over skill and fight like brutes, shouldn't Kami train them. I get what Kami said, but Raditz as a saiyan has a ton of potential and if he got skilled he would be a monster, so why no Kami training? Because Earth is so behind in tech., when are gravity chambers coming, there is no way for them to come at the end of the Saiyan saga, unless Raditz's ship technology is used.

Noted on the Nappa and Vegeta role reversal request. Can't say what my plans are, of course. But if you know me by now, I don't do things the easy way.

When it comes to Raditz's training, it's pretty simple. If Raditz doesn't feel as if he's in control, he's going to realign the situation so that he is. I highly doubt that Raditz would allow himself to train under Kami; his pride just wouldn't allow it. Kami did keep Launch around for training due to her unique capabilities, but as for the rest of them, they're all incredibly skilled fighters(and Bulma). They really just need to focus on power at the moment.

-sp: Awesome story and can't wait to read more. I like the changes you ve made and that you expanded the earth characters , the only promplem i have with this fic is how undeveloped in comparison Kakarot seems. So far the things we know for him is that he grew up in Namek, has better intellectual skills and is a bit of an elitist or maybe racist to other races, he hasn't fought the fights the z fighters had , he doesn't have many hardships so his motivation now seems not enough for me. Of course his trials might only beginning now in your story, but yeah so far i can relate to most characters and even Raditz but not Kakarot

I don't blame you. So far there is no reason to feel inspired by him as a hero.

But there will be.

Soon.

Count on it.